


What The Galaxy Stole

by Yulicia



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, I'm serious someone dies, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Other, Phasma POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 06:58:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10588809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yulicia/pseuds/Yulicia
Summary: It was always a tense moment in the Finalizer’s hanger whenever Kylo Ren returned from a long mission. Today, however, felt even tenser.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry

It was always a tense moment in the Finalizer’s hanger whenever Kylo Ren returned from a long mission.

The scene always looked the same. A small squadron of Stormtroopers would be lined up in perfect, uniform rows, their white armour always polished a perfect shine. Captain Phasma would be at the very front, her chrome armour standing out like a single star in a clear night - despite the fact that her attendance was not necessarily needed and was primarily a personal decision taken to ensure she was making a good example for her troopers. And Lieutenant Mitaka, ever vigilant in his duties, would be on General Hux’s heels as they too awaited the arrival of their resident Force user.

While the scene was exactly the same as it has always been, Phasma felt the tension in the air, like a cloud of toxic gas. Kylo Ren had not made contact with the Finalizer during his mission off-ship as he normally does. This had caused the General to be even antsier than he usually was during Ren’s absence, and when the General was stressed, it bled into the very walls of the ship and caused the crew to be on constant alert.

Phasma was not privy to the exact reason Ren had not been able to make contact with the Finalizer but she suspected the worst. The mission he had been sent on was not an easy task and was fraught with danger. Ren had even taken one of his Knights along with him, something the notoriously solitary knight did not often do. The Captain could only imagine what state the Knight’s shuttle and its crew would return in.

Fortunately, Phasma did not have to wonder for long as the tell-tale sound of the Upsilon-class’ engines roared nearby. The ship itself did not seem to be damaged beyond the regular scuffs it regularly retained after leaving the Finalizer. The landing, too, was smooth, which indicated there was no internal damage to the ship itself.

The welcoming party swelled with anxiety as the doors of the shuttle did not open. It seemed as if every person’s – whether that be trooper or officer – breath was held simultaneously. Phasma took a glance at the General, who she noticed appeared to be stiffer than usual, as if he was holding himself back from something.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of waiting the hatch of the shuttle opened. Phasma had expected Kylo Ren to come stomping out from the doors as he did almost every time he returned, but he seemed to be absent. The only person to emerge from the shuttle was Augustine Ren, the knight the Master of the Knight’s of Ren had taken along with him.

Augustine was not a tall woman, and when stood next to her master looked comically small. However, this time she looked even smaller. Her shoulders were hunched and her entire being looked deflated. Her checkered mask was absent but her hair covered her face as she only looked at her feet as she shuffled forward.

The General rushed forward to greet her, “Where is your Master?” he asked, a level of desperation creeping into his tone. 

Augustine Ren looked up, her hair falling from her face. Her expression was despairing, her dark eye make-up smuggled and running down her cheeks. Her eyes locked with the General’s.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, barely above a whisper, her voice thick with sadness, “Master Ren… he didn’t make it back to the ship. He perished on Ryloth.”

Phasma’s entire being tensed. The loss of the Knight’s master would surely have devastating consequences on the First Order. She stared at the General, waiting to see how he would respond to the Knight.  She was uniquely knowledgeable in this situation as she was the only one she knows of within the immediately vicinity, perhaps even the entire Finalizer, that knew of the true nature of Kylo Ren and the General’s relationship as she was perhaps one of the only people Hux could call a ‘friend’. Though she suspected now, judging from the sympathy reflected into Augustine Ren’s tired eyes, that the Knights themselves knew too.

“That is certainly unfortunate. Does the Supreme Leader know?” Hux said, his shaking voice betraying the nonchalance his words portrayed.

Augustine nodded, “He would have felt it.”

Hux jerked his head, not quite a nod but not quite not a nod either, “Of course,” he turned to Mitaka, “Lieutenant, I trust you can take care of the record changes? Ren’s… death… will need to be recorded,”  he said, stumbling over the word ‘death’.

The Lieutenant stood at attention, ramrod straight, “Of course, sir.”

“The Order appreciates your efforts, Knight,” Hux said to Augustine, who barely seemed to hear the statement. He turned once again to Mitaka, “I will be in my quarters.”

That was the General’s final statement before he left the hanger, at a speed just very slightly faster than his regular gait. Phasma dismissed her troopers and made a beeline after the General.

Phasma would never call herself well versed in dealing with grief but she knew she had to do something. She doubted the Knight’s would care about the General’s health following his loss, they were probably drowning in their own grief. Phasma herself had never been close to the Knight and as such she felt this was her duty. She steeled herself before knocking on the General’s door.

To his credit, when the General opened the door he could have been mistaken for just being very tired. His eyes were beginning to redden around the rims and they took on a glassy appearance, but he was holding himself together impressively. Phasma expected nothing less of their young General.

Hux cleared his throat, “Captain? Why are you here?”

“May I come in, Armitage?” Phasma said, knowing that the use of his given name would jolt the General into the knowledge that this was a personal visit, rather than a professional one.

“I… Of course,” he replied reluctantly, stepping aside to let the chrome trooper enter.

Phasma sat at the General’s desk, a move that would have gotten anyone other than Phasma sent immediately to reconditioning. She took off her helmet, placing it clumsily on the cluttered desk. She looked up at the General who was still standing by the now closed door.

“Why are you here?” Hux asked again, still hovering. His hands were clasped behind his back and Phasma knew from experience that she would find cresent-moon shaped marks in his palms if she looked.

“You know exactly why I’m here, Hux, don’t play dumb with me, you know how much I hate it,” Phasma said, more sternly than she intended. She was supposed to be providing some sort of comfort and she was not off to a good start, “I’m here about Ren.”

Hux sighed like he’d had the wind knocked out of him, “Oh,” he started, “I assure you I am perfectly fine.”

“Banthashit,” Phasma snapped, making Hux flinch, “I know how you felt about your co-commander, you told me yourself.”

The General moved to sit at the seat across from his desk; the uncomfortable plastic one he used for guests.

“Remind me never to drink in your presence again,” Hux mumbled under his breath. He let out a frustrated sigh, “What do you want me to say exactly Phasma? That when Augustine told me Ren was dead I thought I been shot with a blaster? That Ren gave my life purpose the Order never had? That just the _thought_ that all these nights I’ve spent agonisingly awake because I couldn’t sleep without him in my bed will last for an eternity makes me want to throw myself out of an airlock? That I can’t bear the thought of continuing without the man I…” Hux paused, his breath catching, “The man I loved by my side?”

Hux doubled over in his chair, burying his face in his gloved hands. His shoulders shook but he made very little noise other than an occasional shaky intake of breath and sniffle.

Phasma reeled in shock. She’d known that her two commanders’ had had an arrangement of sorts but she never quite thought that their relationship had been quite so… intense. She wasn’t sure what she had expected by prodding the General to talk but this was certainly not it. She wasn’t sure how to handle this particular situation. He’d seemed far more stable when she first arrived, though she supposed it was foolish to think that the stalwart General would have dared appear any other way.

Running on what little comforting instincts she had she emerged from the chair and padded over to Hux. She bent over and took his hands away from his face (perhaps more forcefully than she should have), grasped them to her own and pulled the General to his feet. He made a noise of protest at being manhandled but mostly allowed it. She hesitated on her next move, unsure if it would be taken positively. She drew the General toward her in what she hoped would be comforting embrace. She was not forceful, allowing Hux to decide if he wanted to proceed.

Their embrace was stiff and awkward, just as Phasma had assumed it would be. They were both still in their uniforms and Phasma’s thick chrome armour could not have been comfortable. Their difference in height allowed for Hux to bury his face in her shoulder, which he had done. She’d wrapped her arms around him, and could feel his shaking intimately. In all of their long years knowing each other, working both as professional’s for the good of the Order and as friends, Phasma has never physically touched the General in this manner. Sure, they had once spared (she’d won) but her touch had never been used as comfort. The sensation was new to both of them, and Phasma was finding she didn’t mind it. Had the circumstances been kinder, she may have been able to take some comfort in the embrace herself.

“I was going to ask him to marry me, did you know that?” Hux mumbled into her shoulder, Phasma having to strain to hear him, “I even had a promise ring ready.”

Phasma didn’t know how to respond, “I’m sorry, Armitage,” she settled for.

Hux scoffed, “Why are you sorry? You didn’t kill him.”

Phasma chose not to respond, not knowing how to.

After what felt like an eternity Hux pulled himself away from Phasma. He wiped his eyes and pitched the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t know what to do,” he said miserably. Phasma had never heard him sound quite so lost.

“You carry on. The Order needs you,” Phasma said, her voice sounding more sure than she felt.

“The Order needs me,” Hux repeated, simply and strong.

* * *

 

Within twelve months of Ren’s demise the First Order had been successfully dismantled by the efforts of the Resistance. Without their Master the Knight’s of Ren had been lost in their grief, and had been swiftly terminated by Snoke for their weakness. Without the group of force users the First Order had been significantly weakened.

The First Order was but ashes when its ex-General, Armitage Hux, stood for judgement on the Resistance base. His execution was swift and humane, without pomp and circumstance.

As Hux drew his final breaths he swore he could see a tall, dark figure before him. A familiar hand reached out for him.

He reached back.  

**Author's Note:**

> I'm stardestroyervigilance on tumblr if you would like to come yell at me for this


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